Kevin Garnett banked in a shot off an alley-oop pass with 1.4 seconds left to give the Boston Celtics their ninth straight victory, 102-101 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.
After Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala drove for a hook shot with 6.6 seconds left to give Philadelphia a 101-100 lead, Rajon Rondo flipped a long pass to Garnett for the winner.
Garnett then raced to midcourt to intercept the 76ers’ inbounds pass.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ray Allen led Eastern Conference-leading Boston with 23 points, Rondo had 19 points and 14 assists, Glen Davis added 16 points and Garnett finished with 14.
Jodie Meeks led Philadelphia with 19 points, while Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young had 16 each, and Elton Brand added 13 points and 14 rebounds.
MAVERICKS 102, NETS 89
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Shawn Marion added 18 points as Dallas stretched their winning streak to 11 games, spoiling former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson’s return.
Johnson, fired by the Mavericks after the 2007 to 2008 season, is in his first season with the Nets.
Jason Terry and Caron Butler added 15 points each, and J.J. Barea had a career-high 13 assists to help the Mavericks extend the NBA’s longest current winning streak.
Brook Lopez led New Jersey with 24 points.
TRAIL BLAZERS 97, MAGIC 83
In Portland, Oregon, the Trail Blazers overcame the Orlando Magic despite a dominant effort from All-Star big man Dwight Howard.
Howard scored 39 points and grabbed 15 rebounds but the Blazers (11-11) locked down defensively on his teammates to win their third straight game.
Andre Miller returned from a one-game suspension with 22 points and eight assists, while Wesley Matthews added 20 for Portland.
Miller was penalized by the NBA for excessive and unnecessary contact at the weekend when he barged into Los Angeles Clippers rookie Blake Griffin, in retaliation for an earlier play.
His absence snapped his consecutive games played streak at 632.
“It’s real messed up what happened, I was out there being aggressive. I had my chance to take a shot, I did that, and I have to deal with the consequences,” Miller told reporters.
“We need everybody. We want to create easy baskets and however the game plays out we’re good with it,” Miller said.
The Blazers fell behind by 14 in the first half where Howard sizzled with 26 points, but closed the gap to just 46-45 at halftime before sending Orlando (15-7) to its third straight loss.
Portland outscored the Magic 52-37 in the second half to take control.
Orlando has been dealing with a flu bug that has affected much of the team over the past week.
Jameer Nelson returned from a three-game absence with illness, while J.J. Redick, Mickael Pietrus and Howard all missed previous time.
The team looked rusty as Howard was one of just a few Orlando players to make more than half of his shots.
Nelson made just 4 of 14 attempts while guard Vince Carter struggled to a 2-for-12 night.
“We have to play the game better, and we have to play it with a lot more energy, alertness and cohesiveness,” said Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy.
“Obviously, you want to win every night, but the results will take care of themselves if you play a certain way,” he said.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS